Falcons Facing Hard Truths After Another Close Loss

FLOWERY BRANCH – The Atlanta Falcons are dealing with a lot of hard truths right now, and there is no pretending otherwise.

Sitting at 4-8 and losers of six of their last seven games, the playoffs are all but a lost cause. With many of the preseason goals surely to fall short, a harsh reality is at play with five games remaining to be played this season. 

The shifting of goals and expectations is a must for a team looking to finish the season on a strong note as they rebuild for a fresh start in 2026. 

“Football is our business. Winning is our job. That’s just what it is,” Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said Monday. “It’s a Mike Tomlinism of all Mike Tomlinisms, but that’s just the truth of it all and the truth of the matter. Football is definitely our business, but winning is our job, and we’ve got to go out there and do that.”

Four losses have come by three points or less, and they are 0-2 in overtime games. Three of their last four games have come down to the final play, but all of those ended with losses. 

The losses have been close, but that won’t help much in a league where close games are what define teams. Missed field, dropped passes in clutch situations, special teams blunders, and third-down conversion failures have led to a 1-5 record in games decided by one score or less. 

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“You lose these close ones, and it just sucks,” linebacker Kaden Elliss said on Sunday in New York. “Every game [in the NFL] is close. The ability to finish out those close games is really what separates, right? Everybody’s got good players, everybody’s got a good scheme. Everybody will have one or two blowouts, either way. But it’s what you do in those nine close games?” 

Those difficult truths have been shared this week at Flowery Branch. Morris opted to keep those conversations private, but he called them “honest evaluations and feedback.” 

“Obviously, today is always going to be tough when they've got to hear the truth from the coaches, from the coach, from everybody, all-hands-on-deck,” the Falcons head coach said. “But when you get back out to practice and you get back into the mode, these guys are competitors. They love to go out and practice. They love to play, and I've got a lot of confidence they'll go out there and do that for us.”

Sunday will be their next chance to see if those conversations held up. 

The Falcons know exactly how thin the margins have been, and how often they’ve failed to seize them. That’s the reality they’ll carry into the final month after a season defined by missed chances and self-inflicted wounds.

The Falcons will look to move forward with the final five weeks of their season, but they will have a difficult test on Sunday with the 9-3 Seattle Seahawks coming to Atlanta. For a team just about out of runway in 2025, how they handle the final stretch may give us a glimpse of what’s to come in 2026.